


Masturbation and Porn in the 1930s

by ala



Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Archived, Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Gen, Nonfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-06 20:29:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16839850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ala/pseuds/ala
Summary: Historical research into what attitudes Steve and Bucky (as two working class boys from the 1930s) may have had towards masturbation and their access to pornographic materials.





	Masturbation and Porn in the 1930s

**Author's Note:**

> Archived from http://ferrific.tumblr.com/post/98191714238/masturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s, originally posted 2014

On the [historicallyaccuratesteve](http://tmblr.co/mkaDmFbNF1FxE5DnQ-J-0Ow) blog an [anon](http://historicallyaccuratesteve.tumblr.com/post/95776016254/this-question-is-so-broad-im-so-sorry-but-id-love) asked what the attitudes of two working class boys (Steve and Bucky) would be towards porn and masturbation in the 1930s and 1940s. I saw the question and spied a Research Project, the results of which are below. I’m actually kind of impressed by the amount of scholarly work that has been dedicated to masturbation. Like most things relating to sex and the human body, it’s a pretty interesting history.

To approach this question I looked at greater societal attitudes towards masturbation (medical literature, etc.), whether or not pornographic material would have been easily accessible (short answer: yes), and religious attitudes towards masturbation as those would heavily influence their views. In particular, I’m going on the assumption that Steve at least is Catholic and Irish, for reasons you’ll see below. I did not do any in depth research into different Protestant denominations or Judaism beyond a brief Google search that indicated to me that during this time period (and to a differing extent today) masturbation was also considered a sin and taboo. I also want to note that due to the sources and scholarship available to me ‘pornography’ specifically refers to images meant to titillate heterosexual men.

This is meant to provide a brief overview. Sources are linked for more in-depth reading. For books and paywalled articles I linked to the amazon page or jstor citation.

**Medical and Societal Attitudes:**

By the time the 1930s rolled around the medical profession had _mostly_ given up on the idea that masturbation was a symptom of/caused insanity, or that it caused diseases such as tuberculosis. Yes, that was an actual medical thought. My 1937 Cecil’s Text-Book of Medicine (4th ed.) mentions masturbation only once, in the “The Neuroses or the Psychoneuroses” section under the “Perversions” subheading.”Masturbation, while not a perversion in itself, may become so if practiced inveterately and as an end in itself” (1514). Other perversions listed in the section are: masochism, sadism, fetishism, homosexuality, intercrural, oral and anal sex, cunnilinguism, fellatio, bestiality, necrophilia, and incest. Interesting, but not necessarily relevant to this question, is the statement “There is something of the compulsion in the perversion. They seem to increase among the intellectuals and in cultured societies. They are seen among mental defectives and the insane, and are apt to crop out under the influence of alcohol” (1515).

The author of a 1947 book chapter (reprinted in 1952 as an [article](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F346717&t=MDZjY2RkNGI0YjNjMjVmMjA3NGU4Njg0Mjk4MzRlZjQzZmE3NWRhMyxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) in _Marriage and Family Living)_ is kind of smug of his modern medical views towards masturbation, but even he notes that the public does not always catch up. He quotes an earlier 1942 work in which the author cited that 75% of the adult parents of his patients in his child psychology clinic threatened their children with the dangers of masturbation and that most physicians do not know that this is the wrong thing to do. In 1937, [studies](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.plannedparenthood.org%2Ffiles%2F5513%2F9611%2F7867%2Fmasturbation_11-02.pdf&t=YjJhZmUyYWUxOTUzZjM0NDY5MTg1OTcxNjhlN2U4MDFkOWQ5NzAzOCxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) showed that nine out of ten children children caught masturbating were severely threatened, punished,and often terrorized with going insane or blind or having their penises cut off or their vaginas sewn closed (which are actual “cures” that had been endorsed in the nineteenth century), and that 82 percent of college freshmen believed that masturbation was dangerous. [Studies](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.plannedparenthood.org%2Ffiles%2F5513%2F9611%2F7867%2Fmasturbation_11-02.pdf&t=YjJhZmUyYWUxOTUzZjM0NDY5MTg1OTcxNjhlN2U4MDFkOWQ5NzAzOCxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) in the 1940s showed that “most men recalled learning about masturbation for the first time from other boys and men. And nearly half recalled receiving a demonstration of masturbation via mutual or simultaneous masturbation.”

For an extremely thorough outline of the history of (western) societal attitudes towards masturbation, check out the Planned Parenthood white paper [here](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.plannedparenthood.org%2Ffiles%2F5513%2F9611%2F7867%2Fmasturbation_11-02.pdf&t=YjJhZmUyYWUxOTUzZjM0NDY5MTg1OTcxNjhlN2U4MDFkOWQ5NzAzOCxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1). It cites heavily from one of the few book-length English-language treatises on the subject, [_Masturbation: the History of a Great Terror_](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FMasturbation-The-History-Great-Terror%2Fdp%2F0312224435&t=ZjkxOWQ1OWIzNGY1ZTk4NzNhYWE1M2MxZDMwMDQ5MjExMTQ5YjY5NCxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1)(trans. 2001) by Stengers & Neck, which unfortunately I have not been able to get my hands on. Other in-depth works include Mels van Driel’s [_With the Hand: A Cultural History of Masturbation_](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FWith-Hand-Cultural-History-Masturbation%2Fdp%2F186189919X%2Fref%3Dtmm_hrd_title_0%3Fie%3DUTF8%26qid%3D1410062966%26sr%3D1-1&t=YmYwZjcyNDlhN2Q3NmNkYzI3MGVjZjgzMWJkMzRhZWYzOTRmZDVlNixHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) (2012) and [_Solitary Sex: a Cultural History of Masturbation_](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FSolitary-Sex-Cultural-History-Masturbation%2Fdp%2F1890951331%2Fref%3Dreader_auth_dp&t=OGIzN2QxYTFjNWY1NjY0YTBlYmExMDViYzkyY2QyYTBiMGRiNWY0OCxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) (2004) by Thomas Laqueur.

**Pornography in the 1930s:**

If they wanted it, they could get their hands on pornographic material, or at least female nude pictures or photographs. I don’t have any doubt about that. Below are some types they may have encountered: 

They may have seen a stag film/blue film/”smoker”—ten-minute black-and-white silent pornographic films that circulated on an underground basis from the 1910s to the late 1960s, but while some may have been aimed at lower/working class men they were appear to have been mostly produced for middle-to-upper class audiences.([x](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DnlVpgOR9z-kC%26lpg%3DPA26%26ots%3DG1An39R83v%26dq%3Dhistory%2520of%2520the%2520stag%2520film%26pg%3DPA25%23v%3Dtwopage%26q%26f%3Dtrue&t=YmFmMWYzZjFhZTJmOTgxMDE5OTFiNTdiNGVmNTZiNTliMWQ2MzNlZixHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1)) The films were shown in brothels and often at the stag party for a man before his wedding (hence the name). [This ](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DrBP6yjQwT8QC%26lpg%3DPR13%26dq%3Dhistory%2520of%2520the%2520stag%2520film%26pg%3DPA1%23v%3Donepage%26q%26f%3Dfalse&t=M2FmZjFkMmMzNWY3NjFjZWRmYmI0MzAxZmI2OTAzYjk5MGE4M2YwYSxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1)gives you some description on how and where they were watched, and also casts a new light on the [Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFred_Flintstone&t=YzRlMzk3MmNhYTI2MzQxOWYyNDFhZGU1NTUyYzEyNDIzMGE5NjdmZixHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1). The films were also almost exclusively heterosexual: “According to a study made by film historians Arthur Knight and Hollis Alpert in 1967 (Playboy, November 1967), only five percent of all stag films produced between 1920 and 1967 contained male homosexual scenes and only 1.4 percent of all stag films were exclusively male homosexual; some or most of the latter were probably—as Knight and Alpert surmise—produced as exotica for straight audiences primed to have their liquor-soaked minds blown, or eager to test the forbearance of their fellows” ([x](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F1213528&t=MjZjNDI5ZGQzZDQ2NTYwNTIwYjg2M2EwNDU2YjFkMTAyZDJhMTg2YSxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1)). Apparently bestiality was actually more common than male homosexuality ([125](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0802116523%2F&t=Njg3ZjA5ZTBjM2ZmOGVmMGVkNDg1ODJlOTA5MTg4NWUyOWJmNGQ1OCxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1)). Woman on woman featured more prominently, showing that the tradition of using lesbians for male enjoyment is not new.

Some tamer (by today’s standards—I’ve seen _much_ worse on my dash) films [are](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.solie.org%2Falibrary%2FStagFilms.html&t=ZjM5YTRiODE2MWI5NzQ4MjdlM2JmZDQwNDE0OWRmMmM0NjA2YWJhNSxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) [actually](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dvarchive.com%2Fstock-footage%2F000-0237%2Fasstagfilmdepictstwostrippershitchhikingforsex&t=YjU0MWMyNmNjNTZmNzE0YzQzYjVhMTMyYjc5MDNjZmQ5NDc0NzY1YSxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) [online](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DGJeWRGfiOJg&t=MGZlNmIxODFhMDE3MWIyMWQzYWFiMTdkODBlZGIyYjExOTUxM2JiZSxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1). These ones are only stripteases (I think—I haven’t watched all of them through), but most were more explicit/hard core.

What they more likely had access to were eight-pagers, also known as [tijuana bibles](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTijuana_bible&t=ZGQ3ZDkwYjAyNzgwMTcxNzI4NmJlNTkxY2I1Njk2OTk4YTk5MjZmMixHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1). These were small, cheaply produced, dirty comics that were popular throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s but mostly disappeared after WWII. They often featured celebrities and popular cartoon/comic characters and had a humorous (as well as pornogaphic) slant. The sites [http://www.tijuana-bibles.com/](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tijuana-bibles.com%2F&t=NGU4OTA4ZWU0NTk0OWFiNmNhMjk3MGU5NzU1MjE2YjJiYWZlYTk1MyxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) and [http://www.tijuanabibles.org/](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tijuanabibles.org%2F&t=ZWY5NjA4NzEwMzUxNGE3MjY5YjNjNjM3OTJmNjliNzYyYWVkMjU3NSxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) have scanned examples. NSFW, obviously.

As to precisely where one could get these and other pornographic material such as photographs and dirty postcards my limited research has not been able to clarify. However I did find this bit which offers some ideas: “[New York City] witnessed a major resurgence of erotic publishing in the 1920s and 1930s. With distribution outlets no longer confined to a handful of blocks south of City Hall, inquiring consumers could find salacious publications in an assortment of locales, ranging from secondhand book marts on Fourth Avenue and low-rent magazine shops around Times Square to upscale Fifth Avenue bookstores” ([303-304](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DcBoyHeH1M1kC%26lpg%3DPP1%26dq%3Dlicentious%2520gotham%26pg%3DPP1%23v%3Donepage%26q%26f%3Dfalse&t=YWNiZjFkZGYyMmVmZDRlODY5OWEyY2I3YWY0ZDFlMTU2MTJiMTE0NyxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1)).

They may not have actually needed to get their hands on the illegal or actually pornographic stuff in order to find something titillating; they could just buy it at a newsstand. The covers of pulps (e.g. [_Spicy Stories_](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fpulpcovers.com%2Ftag%2Fspicystories%2F&t=ZjNlOTNhZmNiMDJjOWQ1Njc2NDA0N2ZiNDkyY2IxMzRkNDhkN2MwZSxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) _,_[ _Spicy Mystery_](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fpulpcovers.com%2Ftag%2Fspicymystery%2F&t=YjNkMTA3ZTY5ZTUzOTZlYTk5OGVmMWU2ZTE5OWFhODI5MDIxMGRkOSxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1), [_Spicy Western_](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fpulpcovers.com%2Ftag%2Fspicywestern%2F&t=MmE2MzIyM2Y0ZWY2YTIxMmI0NzM5YmUzYTYwZTI1NzlhZDBjNGY5NSxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) _,_[ _Dime Detective_](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fpulpcovers.com%2Ftag%2Fdimedetective%2F&t=MzJmNTEzMWQ3OTU3MzA5ZDFkNGUxOTdmODk0ZTMwYTlhMDNkYmEwZCxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) _,_[ _Private Detective Stories_](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fpulpcovers.com%2Ftag%2Fprivatedetectivestories%2F&t=NTJiYmMzOGQ4ODVjNGE0OTM0YmNjY2U5MmIzZGE4MDRjNGIyMmJkNSxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) _,_ etc _._ )had scantily dressed and often imperiled women on them in addition to the lurid stories and pictures within, although the spicier ones were most likely sold under the counter ([x](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pulpmags.org%2Fhistory_page.html&t=OWY5MWE0MjEyMDRmMTYwMjllNGQ4OTJhZjM4MDQxNDRjNmE3Nzg2NCxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1)). You can read entire examples at this [website](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pulpmags.org%2Fcontexts_pages%2Fgirlie_pulps.html&t=ODM1MjA2NTkyMzI2NDQ4ZjI0OWJkMzU5Mzc3NDZkNTMyMDg3NGZkZCxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1), which also includes an [essay](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pulpmags.org%2Fcontexts_pages%2Fgirlie_pulps%2Fhistory.html&t=ZWI4MjFkMzA5YTc4YjdkMDY0MDBhN2ZkN2I0YmJmZmE1ZWY4NGRlNCxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) on the origin of girlie pulps (they were a lot more risqué in the 1920s, but toned down in the 1930s). At a more high-brow level, _Esquire_ magazine was first published in 1933 and included a [pinup](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thepinupfiles.com%2Fpetty.html&t=NDM2MjZkODNjNjM5M2YyN2VkNjM0MDllYTJkZDcwZWI5ZGJiMmU5YyxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) girl in every issue. One author I read noted that “while a majority of Esquire’s images of women were meant to be provocative, it was the pinup that was explicitly coded as a masturbatory aide” ([x](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2F3174925%2520&t=ZTBkYzg3ZmE3ZTU1MGQyOTAxMjkxYTFhNGE4MmFkNjZiYjkxODM3YyxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1)).

Not pornography, but still dealing with sex were the grindhouse films. In 1937 the mayor of New York closed the burlesque theaters of Times Square. The theaters subsequently became grindhouses, showing exploitation films with subjects forbidden by the [Hays Code](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMotion_Picture_Production_Code&t=NjRkMzhkZjg0OGI0ZDU1ODQ3MDBhZTYzYmNiNTlkZDM0ZmVjMmQ0MixHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1), including sex, nudity, venereal disease, drugs, and prostitution. Allegedly educational, the films were presented as cautionary tales that “associated sex with sleaze, sex with shame, sex with horrible consequence, sex with fear” ([x](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F0802116523%2F&t=Njg3ZjA5ZTBjM2ZmOGVmMGVkNDg1ODJlOTA5MTg4NWUyOWJmNGQ1OCxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1)). These were the films that told you that if you had sex you would get pregnant and syphilis and die. [_Reefer Madness_](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DAzf320JDdqU&t=Y2IxODIwMDRhMWQ2MWMxNzdiMzJkMjY0ZWY4NjY5ODBkMGI4NGIxNixHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1)(1936) is one of the more famous examples, and you can also watch the 1938 sexploitation film _Sex Madness!_ on [YouTube](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D323dwVac4DM&t=ZGE5ZTc3ZmU0NzZlMjA5NmYxZGJmZTBkMmE0NzU0ZTZkMzRjZGQyZSxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1).

**Religion and Masturbation**

The reason I mentioned believing that Steve that is Catholic is because it’s fairly easy to find the Church’s attitude towards masturbation (it really hasn’t changed much in the last 100 years). It’s [wrong](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beginningcatholic.com%2Fcatholic-teaching-on-masturbation.html&t=NWNlZWNjMjY5OWE3YjRkNDczNjM5MGM3YmQ1YWEyZmI1OGJjZGY5YixHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) and [a sin](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fqueeringthechurch.com%2F2010%2F11%2F15%2Flets-talk-about-the-churchs-dirty-little-secret-masturbation%2F&t=NjJmNjdhZTdmYTBlN2E2NGIxZWUxYTk4OTQxMWU2MDNiNTFkYTdjOSxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1), and extremely shameful. 

I found a rather good passage to illustrate this point. Frank McCourt was born in Brooklyn in 1930 and moved with his family back to Limerick, Ireland around 1935. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1996 memoir [_Angela’s Ashes_](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FAngelas-Ashes-Memoir-Frank-McCourt%2Fdp%2F068484267X%2Fref%3Dsr_1_1%3Fie%3DUTF8%26qid%3D1411334254%26sr%3D8-1%26keywords%3Dangela%2527s%2Bashes&t=NmUzM2Y3NjZiYjJhZDRiZWRiZjhiMWQwNGVmM2Q1ZGNjN2E5OWRlNyxHS25YQmtTWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AGXjD4VSI34qFI1GO-3jarQ&p=http%3A%2F%2Fferrific.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F98191714238%2Fmasturbation-and-porn-in-the-1930s&m=1) and while I’ve read that some of his depictions of his childhood may have been exaggerated but I’ve no reason to believe that this passage is one of them, or that it is atypical of the time. He is 13 here, so it would have been c.1943. As far as I can tell ‘the excitement’ is McCourt’s own term, not something that was commonly used in the US or Ireland:

> “I know about the excitement and I know it’s a sin but how can it be a sin if it comes to me in a dream where American girls pose in swimming suits on the screen at the Lyric Cinema and I wake up pushing and pumping? It’s a sin when you’re wide awake and going at yourself the way the boys talked about it in Leamy’s schoolyard after Mr. O’Dea roared the Sixth Commandment at us, Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery, which means impure thoughts, impure words, impure deeds, and that’s what adultery is, Dirty Things in General.
> 
> One Redemptorist priest barks at us all the time about the Sixth Commandment. He says impurity is so grave a sin the Virgin Mary turns her face away and weeps.
> 
> And why does she weep, boys? She weeps because of you and what you are doing to her Beloved Son. She weeps when she looks down the long dreary vista of time and beholds in horror the spectacle of Limerick boys defiling themselves, polluting themselves, interfering with themselves, abusing themselves, soiling their young bodies, which are the temples of the Holy Ghost. Our Lady weeps over these abominations knowing that every time you interfere with yourself you nail to the cross her Beloved Son, that once more you hammer into His dear head the crown of thorns, that you reopen those ghastly wounds. In an agony of thirst He hangs on the cross and what is He offered by those perfidious Romans? A lavatory sponge plunged into vinegar and gall and thrust into His poor mouth, a mouth that moves rarely except to pray, to pray even for you, even for you, boys, who nailed Him to that cross. Consider Our Lord’s suffering. Consider the crown of thorns. Consider a small pin driven into your skull, the agony of the piercing. Consider then twenty thorns driven into your head. Reflect, meditate on the nails tearing His hands, His feet. Could you endure a fraction of that agony? Take that pin again, that mere pin. Force it into your side. Enlarge that sensation a hundredfold and you are penetrated by that awful lance. Oh, boys, the devil wants your souls. He wants you with him in hell and know this, that every time you interfere with yourself, every time you succumb to the vile sin of self-abuse you not only nail Christ to the cross you take another step closer to hell itself. Retreat from the abyss, boys. Resist the devil and keep your hands to yourself.
> 
> I can’t stop interfering with myself. I pray to the Virgin Mary and tell her I’m sorry I put her Son back on the cross and I’ll never do it again but I can’t help myself and swear I’ll go to confession and after that, surely after that, I’ll never never do it again. I don’t want to go to hell with devils chasing me for eternity jabbing me with hot pitchforks.
> 
> The priests of Limerick have no patience with the likes of me. I go to confession and they hiss that I’m not in a proper spirit of repentance, that if I were I’d give up this hideous sin. I go from church to church looking for an easy priest till Paddy Clohessy tells me there’s one in the Dominican church who’s ninety years old and deaf as a turnip. Every few weeks the old priest hears my confession and mumbles that I should pray for him. Sometimes he falls asleep and I don’t have the heart to wake him up so I go to Communion the next day without penance or absolution. It’s not my fault if priests fall asleep on me and surely I’m in a state of grace just for going to confession. Then one day the little panel in the confession box slides back and it’s not my man at all, it’s a young priest with a big ear like a seashell. He’ll surely hear everything.
> 
> Bless me, Father, for I have sinned, it’s a fortnight since my last confession.
> 
> And what have you done since then, my child?
> 
> I hit my brother, I went on the mooch from school, I lied to my mother.
> 
> Yes, my child, and what else? I-I-I did dirty things, Father.
> 
> Ah, my child, was that with yourself or with another or with some class of beast?
> 
> Some class of beast. I never heard of a sin like that before. This priest must be from the country and if he is he’s opening up new worlds to me.”

~~~~~~~~~~

In conclusion, If I were to provide a short-ish answer to the anon’s initial question, I would say that masturbation was very likely something the boys did; they probably talked about it amongst themselves at some point but it was not something talked about in a non-private setting; they likely had seen if not possessed pornography or dirty pictures, and most definitely had seen pinups (especially during the war—the army included one in its weekly magazine), and the whole thing would be deeply associated with shame and guilt from both a religious and secular standpoint.

I hope this is helpful to someone. I am by **no** means an expert in the subject area but I have tried to at least get a good survey of available sources. If anyone has any corrections or additions to make, please let me know. I always love to learn more. Additionally, if anyone would like a clarification or has any questions, send me an ask and I’ll get to it as soon as I can. 


End file.
